Girl Canned Peaches

This is what happened yesterday while I was sick. I started out canning peaches on my own with the assistance of my 12 year old daughter. I thought I had some indigestion, but that shortly turned into the full fledged stomach flu. I hated to do it, but the peaches needed to be canned, and I was wiped out sick with zero energy and frequent trips to a little room around the corner, so I asked my daughter if she could take on the challenge of 60 pounds of big round Rosa peaches. She was a little scared, but I lay down nearby, worthless, except for my brain. My 9 year old son came in and started washing peaches and the peeling them after they were blanched. My daughter filled jars and loaded them in the canner. She did great! I'm so proud of her! She learned she can do more things then she ever dreamed, turning out thirty-one quart jars of golden bounty.

And I cleaned up the sticky kitchen this morning.

Garden Produce

What have we been eating this summer? Garden produce! This morning I picked:
- orange beets
- celery
- eggplant
- cucumbers
- tomatoes
- zucchini
-okra
- and blackberries, they're big ones, bigger then my thumb!


I have to tell you about the blackberries. The plant came with the garden when we purchased this house several years, but it has never done well. The berries have usually dried out before they were ripe. The ones I tasted weren't that great. Early this spring I told my husband that it was probably time we pulled out that plant, as it seemed to be just a space user. Well, the plant must have heard me because this year there are many huge, juicy berries. I've already put 1.5 quarts in the freezer and there are many more waiting to ripen. There was more snow last winter and more rain this summer and that seems to have made the difference. What a treat! Those berries are about 1 inch wide and 1.5 inches long.

Today for lunch I made a cucumber salad, with fresh cucumbers. And then I made potato okra curry with the fresh okra. The eggplant is going to turn into cheeseless eggplant parmasian. I'll try to come through with recipes soon. Meanwhile eat all the fresh produce you can get your hands on. There is nothing like it. I recommend my Tomato Cucumber Recipe highly, if you've got tomatoes. As always, it's gluten and dairy free, and full of nutrition.